Author Topic: An interesting piece of ancient coin collecting history (Read 2270 times)

Gert · « **on:** December 10, 2012, 02:59:10 pm »

Recently, I managed to acquire a small collection of Roman coins that were found in the room of a recently deceased monk, who had lived in a monastery in Wittem, Netherlands. What sets this collection apart from others is the charming catalogue written in Latin, describing the 'core collection' to which one or two other monks added some more coins. I have been to a lot of coin auctions, and I can't remember seeing anything like this before.

I have included a couple of photos below, and if that sparks the interest: I have recently put up a page on the collection, where a the entire 23 page catalogue can also be viewed. It is a marvelous insight into the mind of a coin collector long gone.

http://www.oudgeld.com/webbib/wittem.htm
http://www.oudgeld.com/webbib/wittemcat.htm

Regards
Gert

Jochen · « **Reply #1 on:** December 10, 2012, 03:23:43 pm »

It's so beautiful. I love it!

Jochen

quadrans · « **Reply #2 on:** December 10, 2012, 03:32:36 pm »

Hmmm I like it very much..

regards
quadrans

Mat · « **Reply #3 on:** December 10, 2012, 03:41:10 pm »

Wasnt this collection on ebay recently or something? I remember reading & seeing more pics somewhere.

Cool either way.

Andrew McCabe · « **Reply #4 on:** December 10, 2012, 04:42:37 pm »

Quote from: Gert on December 10, 2012, 02:59:10 pm

Recently, I managed to acquire a small collection of Roman coins that were found in the room of a recently deceased monk, who had lived in a monastery in Wittem, Netherlands. What sets this collection apart from others is the charming catalogue written in Latin, describing the 'core collection' to which one or two other monks added some more coins. I have been to a lot of coin auctions, and I can't remember seeing anything like this before.

I have included a couple of photos below, and if that sparks the interest: I have recently put up a page on the collection, where a the entire 23 page catalogue can also be viewed. It is a marvelous insight into the mind of a coin collector long gone.

Really lovely. Congratulations.

Adrian W · « **Reply #5 on:** December 10, 2012, 04:50:22 pm »

Gert,
That turned out to be a much better collection than was first indicated as I had some interest in this as well but the jpegs they sent me did not show much of interest how wrong I was.These where not sold on Ebay.I really missed out on this one nice find and an interesting collection.Enjoy it.

Adrian

David Atherton · « **Reply #6 on:** December 10, 2012, 05:35:49 pm »

What a fantastic find! It's amazing that most of the coins are still with the catalog.

Mark Z · « **Reply #7 on:** December 10, 2012, 06:32:28 pm »

That is so beautiful! Wouldn't any one of us love to have this in a little glass display case?

It might be that the catalog itself has more value than the coins!

Regards,
mz

Britannicus · « **Reply #8 on:** December 10, 2012, 11:41:44 pm »

Wow, this is fantastic. A great find and extremely interesting catalog and ownership history. I would be thrilled to have something like this.

ickster · « **Reply #9 on:** December 11, 2012, 01:50:03 am »

Beautiful penmanship, as a bonus!

Enodia · « **Reply #10 on:** December 11, 2012, 01:55:46 am »

great stuff!
it's stories like this which really make collecting fun.

~ Peter

Steve E · « **Reply #11 on:** December 11, 2012, 02:41:32 am »

Historical interest MULTIPLIED!

Decent ancient coins X superior provenance X Beautiful penmanship X Written in Latin X

=

WOW!

What a treasure!!!

Thanks for sharing!
Steve

WilliamBoyd · « **Reply #12 on:** December 11, 2012, 09:40:39 am »

Is this the monastery?

Redemptoristenklooster (Redemptorist monastery), Wittemer Allee 32

http://wikitravel.org/en/Partij-Wittem

As I understand the monastery is still active, does this mean that no one living there currently is interested in the collection?

Gert · « **Reply #13 on:** December 11, 2012, 10:00:28 am »

That's the correct town, but the picture is of the castle. Here's a photo of the monastery: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wittem_klooster.jpg

And you are correct: apparently nobody was interested in continuing this - they must have other things on their mind... The monastery itself consigned it to auction and they were glad it was worth anything (or so I am told by the auctioneer).
Regards
Gert

curtislclay · « **Reply #14 on:** December 11, 2012, 10:35:17 am »

It would be interesting to know what comments the collector made about the coins, and what authorities or sources he quoted, if any. However, I find it difficult to decipher the handwriting, neat as it is, and so to read and understand the Latin.

For example the antoninianus of Postumus:

IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG, radiate head of Postumus [three words]. MERCVRIO FELICI, Mercury standing, nude apart from cloak hanging over left arm, with head turned back, holding purse in right hand and cornucopia in left. The Gauls worshipped Mercury as the originator of the arts [one line I can't decipher], in which Postumus excelled according to [somebody] as quoted by Pollio. This silver coin is elegant and rare.

Can anyone fill in the blanks?

Gert · « **Reply #15 on:** December 11, 2012, 11:07:56 am »

I have not enough space on my personal website to place the full sized images. I can send a zip file to anyone interested, though.

Here's another photo of the text for the Postumus coin. I think this will make it clear (apparently, according to Valerian). I have also added a 'Nota' to a coin of Galerius, misattributed as Maximian.

As for your question about the sources: as far as I can see, he uses no numismatic literature. There are a few Cohen numbers on the envelopes, but those are in another hand, and most probably later than this catalogue. That 'hand' shows much less knowledge about the coins, compared to the writer of this Latin catalogue, even though he has some Cohen quotes.

Regards
Gert

curtislclay · « **Reply #16 on:** December 11, 2012, 01:01:47 pm »

Now I can read everything! Here is the full Postumus text, and the note to Maximian/Galerius:

IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG, radiate head of Postumus. On the reverse, inscription MERCVRIO FELICI, Mercury standing, nude apart from cloak hanging over left arm, with head turned back, holding purse in right hand and cornucopia in left. The Gauls worshipped Mercury as the originator of the arts, the guide of travelers, and the supporter of commerce. This type alludes to civic virtues, in which Postumus excelled according to Valerian as quoted by Pollio. This silver coin is elegant and rare.

(The Pollio quote must be to an invented letter of Valerian "quoted" by the Historia Augusta.)

Galerius Note: The stars and other objects in the exergue of the coins are the symbols of the moneyers, with which the magistrates permitted them to mark the coins that they produced.

It's interesting that a hundred years ago the monks could still read and write Latin fluently; I wonder if that is still the case today. I remember being impressed as a college student in 1964 that an Austrian cousin of mine who was intending to become a Jesuit monk would have to undergo his oral exams in Latin!

Gert · « **Reply #17 on:** December 11, 2012, 02:14:07 pm »

Thank you very much for those translations!
Regards
Gert

SC · « **Reply #18 on:** December 13, 2012, 03:25:20 am »

Gert,

What an absolutely fantastic find.

Thank you very much for posting the catalogue online.

Interestingly I do not see any references to other catalogues. No use of Cohen numbers for example. Yet in several entries he has expanded the abbreviated legends to their full Latin. And his descriptions show a wonderful accuracy and coherency.

I wonder if his descriptions were truely sui generis or if he had access to Cohen or older Latin works yet did not record any numbers.

Shawn

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Author Topic: An interesting piece of ancient coin collecting history (Read 2270 times)